Rory had turned up on my doorstep like a knight in shining armour. Or a knight with a bar of chocolate and a CCTV doorbell to be precise.
He’d called me when I was on my way home from work – a bit early, thanks to Mr Langdown’s seemingly never-ending tolerance – to see if I fancied a drink.
‘No,’ I said. ‘I can’t. I have to go home.’
‘What’s up?’
Hearing his friendly concern made my stoicism crumble and I burst into tears. Sniffing and sobbing my way through my story about weed-killer graffiti, and the missing cat.
‘What did school say?’ Rory asked when I paused for breath.
‘About what?’ I blew my nose, grateful that the train was mostly empty and there was no one to overhear my tales of woe.
‘About Jem.’
‘What about Jem?’
‘Going missing.’
‘Jem’s not missing,’ I said. ‘It’s her cat. Jem’s cat is missing.’
There was a crackly pause as the train went under a bridge. ‘I misheard you,’ Rory said. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t be,’ I tried to laugh but it came out a bit squeaky and odd. ‘I’m glad it’s this cat and not my daughter.’
Rory hesitated.
‘How are you?’ he asked. ‘Really?’
‘Really? Pretty terrible. This doesn’t feel like someone playing a Halloween trick because witches once lived in our cottage.’
‘No,’ Rory said thoughtfully. ‘It feels …’ He trailed off but I knew what he had been about to say.
‘Personal,’ I said. ‘It feels personal.’
‘Do you have any enemies?’ He gave a little chuckle, because normal people didn’t have enemies, did they? But I did.
‘Tess?’ Rory said, because I’d gone quiet. ‘Do you have any enemies?’
I wasn’t sure where my friendship with Rory was going, and I knew that if things progressed then I’d have to tell him the truth about my divorce and my ex-husband eventually. But for now, I didn’t want to drag it up again. So I mimicked his little laugh. ‘Enemies?’ I said. ‘Only Jem when I make her do her homework instead of watching make-up videos on YouTube.’
‘What about work? You’re a lawyer, after all. Have you crossed paths with any criminals? Sent anyone to prison?’
I shuddered at the mention of prison but I forced myself to keep my voice light. ‘I work for a firm of family solicitors, Rory. The most dangerous thing in my office is the photocopier.’
And then the train went through a tunnel and we got cut off, and I thought I would call him once I got home.
But instead, I’d not long taken off my coat and put on the kettle, instead of opening a bottle of wine because it was only just after four, when he knocked on the door.
‘Shit,’ he said when I answered, not even bothering to say hello. ‘It’s worse than I imagined.’
I looked past him at the lawn, where the ‘witch’ seemed to be becoming more obvious with each passing minute, though the thistles still looked strong and straight. ‘I guess the weed-killer is still working. At least it’ll be dark soon.’
‘Who would have done this?’
I threw my hands out in a ‘no idea’ gesture. ‘I’m going round and round in circles,’ I said. ‘I even wondered if Cassie’s mum could have done it. She was here last night.’
‘Cassie’s mum?’
‘I know,’ I groaned. ‘It’s ridiculous.’
‘Not least because weed-killer takes a few days to work,’ Rory said. ‘This could have been done any time in the last few days.’
‘Brilliant.’
Rory gave me a sympathetic grin and held out his hands. He had a large bar of chocolate in one, and a box in the other. ‘Brought you these,’ he said.
‘Oh my god, you’re an angel.’ I gestured for him to come inside. ‘What’s in the box?’
‘Doorbell.’
I frowned. ‘We’ve got a doorbell.’
‘CCTV,’ he said. ‘Might make you feel a bit safer.’
‘Thank you.’ I was genuinely touched by his thoughtfulness. ‘I’ll see if Callum can set it up for me.’
‘I can do it,’ Rory said. He seemed eager to help. ‘I can do it now if you like? Do you have a drill?’
‘In the cupboard under the stairs. But only if you’re sure you have time?’
‘Course I do.’
‘Then thank you,’ I said again. He really was a treasure. ‘Cup of tea?’
‘Great.’
Rory had the camera up and running in no time. He showed me where the pictures would be on my laptop and said there was an app I could put on my phone, too. So I could get an alert when someone came up the path.
‘Big Brother is watching you, eh?’ I said. ‘This really is helpful, Rory. Fancy another cuppa to celebrate?’
‘Sure,’ he said. I picked up his mug and my own and went into the kitchen where I rinsed them out and refilled the kettle and switched it on. Then, as I turned round to get the teabags from the cupboard, I almost walked into Rory, who’d followed without me realising.
‘Oh, sorry,’ I said. He was very close to me in the small kitchen.
‘I was just going to give you this – thought you might fancy some with your tea?’ He handed me the bar of chocolate, but he didn’t move away. In fact, he possibly came a little closer. Our torsos were close enough that I could feel the warmth coming from his body. I felt a flutter of nerves in my stomach.
‘Tess,’ he said.
I looked up at him and he leaned in and touched his lips to mine. At first it was a soft kiss but he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer and increased the pressure. I was still holding the chocolate which made things a bit awkward, and he was the first man I’d kissed since Alistair, which was strange, but I tried to relax into it, because he was very handsome and he smelled good, and there was a definite feeling of longing inside me – something I’d almost forgotten existed. And hadn’t Eva told me to have some fun? This was definitely fun.
But it was no good. I couldn’t quite let myself go. I pulled back and Rory looked disappointed.
‘Sorry,’ he said, running his fingers through his hair. ‘I didn’t plan that. I really did come round to bring the doorbell.’
I smiled. He was very sweet. ‘Don’t be sorry. It just took me by surprise a bit, that’s all.’
He still had his arms around me and I felt a bit flustered. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I grimaced. ‘Jem will be home any minute,’ I said, putting my hand on his chest and wriggling out of his embrace.
‘Could we park this? Not forever, I promise. Just for now.’
He reached out and touched my cheek. ‘Of course.’
And then, of course, ridiculously, I felt disappointed and a little guilty as though I’d led him on, which I hadn’t. It was years since I’d been in the dating game and I didn’t have a clue how to play it. The day I’d met Alistair, I’d just had my hair cut into a ‘Rachel’ – that’s how long ago it was. I was very out of practice.
With hands that trembled the tiniest bit, I made more tea while Rory leaned against the worktop and watched me. I felt his eyes on me as I moved around the kitchen and I quite liked it. It had just been the wrong moment, I told myself.
As I handed him his mug, he grinned. ‘We’ve got our dinner date to look forward to, if you’re still up for it?’
I’d forgotten all about it in the drama, but now it seemed like something nice to look forward to – and perhaps with my glad-rags on and the right atmosphere, I’d feel more ready for romance.
‘I am still up for it,’ I said. ‘And I am looking forward to it.’
And so we sat together and ate some chocolate and drank our tea, while he showed me the fancy things our new doorbell could do, though I still felt slightly awkward. Then Jem came home and I was – I had to admit – a tiny bit relieved that I had an excuse to leap up from the sofa and comfort her when she was upset about Hermione.
‘We’ll find her, sweetheart,’ I said, feeling terribly guilty that I’d been snogging in the kitchen when I should have been worrying about the kitten. ‘How about we go and have a look now? Perhaps she’s got stuck somewhere.’
But we had no luck. Jem and I spent ages in the back garden, calling for Hermione. We went to all the neighbours and asked them if they’d seen her, but none of them had. And when we got home, the ‘witch’ on the lawn in front of the house was even more vivid, glowing in the light of the streetlamp in the gloomy evening darkness.
Jem looked at it and gave a sigh. ‘I can’t believe we have to look at this every day,’ she said.
‘Why don’t you make some lost cat posters?’ I said. Jem shivered and I gave her a nudge towards the front door. ‘Go on, you’re freezing. Get into the warm. I’ve got an idea.’
Right at the back of our little back garden was a pile of paving stones, obviously left over from when the McKinleys had redone the patio. I’d seen them when we were looking for Hermione, having never really noticed them before. I put on my gloves and then heaved them one by one, round the side of the cottage and out to the front, where I – quite clumsily because they were heavy – dropped them with a thud on to the lawn, covering over the ‘witch’ but leaving gaps for the occasional clumps of thistles to poke through. There were eight slabs, and when I laid them out with gaps in between, they covered the whole lawn so perfectly it almost looked as though they were supposed to be there. Maybe I could put a couple of pots out there in the spring. That might be nice.
The CCTV doorbell was glowing blue in the darkness and I smiled to myself, reassured that it was doing its job. If anyone decided to play any more Halloween tricks, they’d be captured on video.
I gave my newly paved front garden a final approving look, then I went back inside to make dinner – locking the door firmly behind me – feeling happier and safer than I’d done for days.